Utah Governor Wants to Clear Public Lands of Wild HorsesAction Alert from All-Creatures.org

FROM

ACTION

If Utah Governor Gary Herbert has his way, the state of Utah would have the
authority to clear public lands of wild horses "to keep ranges open for
cattle grazing."

That's right. Even though wild horses are protected under federal law,
Governor Herbert says Utah "should take over the horse management” on
federal lands within the state.

Such a move would set a dangerous precedent by giving ranchers and their
allies in state governments the power to wipe out wild horses for good to
make even more room for livestock grazing.

Governor Herbert is one such ally of ranchers and it's not surprising to
see him using their talking points to scapegoat wild horses for the damage
to our public rangelands caused by livestock. This is a particularly
egregious claim to make in Utah, where fewer than 3,500 wild horses remain
while hundreds of thousands of commercial livestock graze on public land.

We've already sent the Governor a letter to set the record straight. Will
you follow it up with a faxor letter to request he back off his position and
respect federal law?

INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS

Sample letter [please edit for greater impact]

Governor Herbert,

I'm writing to express my opposition to your recent comments about wild
horses. Not only does your position rely on erroneous facts, but also it
ignores solid public support for protecting wild horses and burros on our
public lands.

Recently, the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC), Return
to Freedom and The Cloud Foundation wrote to you to set the record straight
on this matter. To reiterate the key points:

Your position is illegal: The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros
Act is a federal law enacted to protect wild horses from states,
localities and private individuals who were brutally rounding them up;

Your position that wild horses are damaging public lands doesn't add
up: Livestock grazing occurs on 22 million acres of BLM land in Utah,
while wild horses are restricted to just 2.1 million acres.

Your position is unpopular: Only 29 percent of Americans want to
ensure that our public lands are available for livestock grazing.

With these facts in mind, I request you publicly retract your previous
statements that wild horses should be managed by the state of Utah.
Additionally, if Utah maintains its anti-wild horse position, then I will be
sure not to spend my tourism dollars in your state, and I will tell all my
friends and family to do the same.

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